Drivers whose cars were wrecked by floodwater at Loddon Bridge park and ride are being “penalised” by plans to increase ticket costs and cut the number of buses, it is claimed.

The decision by Wokingham Borough Council to hike ticket prices by up to 21 per cent has been called into question by the borough’s Liberal Democrats and a meeting will now be held to investigate whether the decision was correct.

Among those giving evidence at the overview and scrutiny committee’s deliberations will be Jackie Wood, 52, who was one of around 80 drivers whose cars were ravaged by water from the River Loddon in February.

She has since received a replacement BMW through an insurance claim against the council, which owns the park and ride at Showcase Cinema in Winnersh Triangle.

She said her car was worth about £30,000 and she expects several other drivers affected by the flooding will have made similar claims for a replacement vehicle.

Mrs Wood, who uses the park and ride to travel from Shinfield to work at a solicitors firm in Reading, said: “We just feel like they are penalising us because I would imagine the park and ride flooding costs were horrendous because there were 70 odd cars flooded.

“Add everyone’s insurance bill on top of that and it must have been a phenomenal bill, their premiums must have gone up.

“Now they are going to penalise us again – not only did we have a flooded car, now they are going to increase prices.”

The Environment Agency had issued a ‘flood watch’ warning on the River Loddon but the council did not close the park and ride.

It has since decided to close the park and ride when a less urgent flood watch warning is made by the agency.

However, Mrs Wood says this is also a problem as drivers may now see the park and ride closed more frequently without warning.

She said: “I have no complaints about the service. I have used it for two years and it is always on time and a very easy way of getting into Reading.

“But there are other ways they could save money, like going from a double decker bus to a single deck. We don’t need the double deck, I’m sure people would be happy to stand for 10 minutes as long as the prices do not go up.”

Councillor Liz Siggery, executive member for corporate services, took the decision to increase prices on all fares, including increasing an adult return from £3.30 to £4 and child return from £1.50 to £1.80.

The frequency of buses will also be decreased from one every eight to 10 minutes to one every 12 to 15 minutes.

Cllr Prue Bray, leader of Wokingham Lib Dems, said: “Reducing the frequency of the service and increasing costs is more likely to kill it than save it.”

The decision has also been called in at Reading Borough Council, which shares ownership and running costs of the park and ride with Wokingham.

The council reports the park and ride will make £340,000 of losses by 2010 if something is not done to save money.

At a Reading council meeting on Monday night, Liberal Democrats in Reading were accused of wasting £10,000 and adding three weeks onto the scheduled works for the changes at the park and ride.

Lib Dem councillors Kirsten Bayes, Daisy Benson and Ricky Duveen called in the decision in Reading, suggesting that the fare increases and service cuts would seriously disadvantage the vulnerable and elderly people who use the service.

But Tony Page, lead councillor for planning and transport, attacked the political party for wasting public time and money on party politics.

He said: “The changes in the services could now be delayed by three weeks resulting in losses of up to £10,000 because Cllr Bayes and her colleagues want to make a cheap and yet costly point.”